Barwon Water publishes Annual Water Outlook

Barwon Water has published this year’s Annual Water Outlook, which shows the region’s water supplies are in good shape in the short term, but we can’t afford to be complacent.

Barwon Water Managing Director Shaun Cumming said the shift to El Niño conditions, along with the trend of declining inflows into our reservoirs and growing population, meant we all need to work together on our water future.

“In responding to the trend towards a hotter, drier climate and strong population growth in our region, we will need to save water, be smart with how we use it and diversify where we source it from,” he said.

Mr Cumming said the dry winter was a pointer to how quickly things could change.

“Even though there was reasonable rainfall at the end of spring, it did not significantly fill storages. Rainfall during the August, September and October period, when we get our major inflows, was 43% below average this year at West Barwon Reservoir, one of our major rainfall storages,” he said.

“At the start of December, Greater Geelong’s storage levels were 75.2% of capacity, nearly 25 percentage points lower than this time last year.”

Barwon Water is pursuing a range of initiatives to secure supplies into the future, including installing digital meters to create smart networks that detect leaks early, expanding fit-for-purpose use of recycled water, extending the reach of the Melbourne-Geelong Pipeline, and supporting customers to save water with a range of grants.

“It’s important we don’t take water for granted and become complacent. We’re asking our community to be mindful about their water use and keep-up water-wise behaviours,” Mr Cumming said.

“Our simple, common sense, permanent water saving rules help all of us to use water wisely and include actions like using a trigger nozzle on hoses, using sprinklers and water systems between 6pm and 10am, when the sun won’t evaporate the water before it soaks in, and using a broom instead of a hose to clean hard surfaces,” he said.

To read the 2023 Annual Water Outlook, visit https://www.barwonwater.vic.gov.au/water-and-waste/annual-water-outlook.

For more on longer-term water supply planning, see https://www.barwonwater.vic.gov.au/water-and-waste/water-for-our-future.

To read up on the region’s permanent water saving rules, see https://www.barwonwater.vic.gov.au/water-and-waste/permanent-water-saving-rules.